The present invention relates to the field of devices used to load, unload and transport a heavy toolbox without manually lifting the toolbox.
Many trades require the transport of heavy toolboxes. Machinists, auto mechanics, plumbers, electricians and other tradesmen frequently have the need to transport their tools to and from various job sites. Typical toolboxes filled with tools frequently weigh 300 pounds or significantly more. Most conventional toolboxes are equipped with wheels, thereby allowing for the toolboxes to be moved around a jobsite with relative ease. However, because of the weight of the toolboxes, it is often impossible for one person to unload a toolbox from his or her vehicle upon arrival at a jobsite. Likewise, loading a toolbox back into a vehicle may be impossible for one person to accomplish.
Accordingly, tradesmen are often forced to utilize a fork lift or other mechanical lifting means to remove a heavy toolbox from the back of their trucks or from other vehicles. If there is sufficient manpower available, a tradesmen may rely on manual assistance from others. But even with sufficient assistance, back and other injuries may result from lifting the toolbox. Moreover, reliance on the availability of manual or mechanical lifting means may be impractical for many tradesmen.
If manual or mechanical assistance necessary to remove a toolbox from a vehicle is not available at a particular jobsite, the tradesman typically has to leave his toolbox in his vehicle. This in turn may require him to make repeated trips to his vehicle in order to retrieve the necessary tools. The task of making repeated trips to the vehicle from the actual work site can be time-consuming and inefficient. Furthermore, frequently tools are removed from the vehicle, carried to the worksite and spread in a haphazard manner over the floor or other work surface. This may result in the misplacement of tools and further inefficiency because the tools are temporarily stored in a disorganized fashion. Additionally, when tools are spread out randomly on the floor of the worksite, the danger of tripping may arise. Of course, if possible, the vehicle itself can be parked close to the immediately, but on many jobs this may be impossible or impractical.
There exists in the prior art various carts designed to serve as mobile tool carts that can be transported from one job site to another. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,651, issued to Dinverno, discloses a pyramid shaped service cart that provides a practical tool cart with increased stability during transport. The tool cart itself contains various storage areas for the storage of and easy access to tools of all types. Although this cart may be easily transported from one job site to another, it requires a ramp and winch system to remove the cart from the transporting vehicle. Specifically, the U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,651 patent discloses a van having ramps stored in drawers of the van and a winch system used to load and unload the cart to and from the van respectively.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,898, issued to Wise, discloses a tool cart designed and configured to receive a number of diverse tools and accessories. The cart is wheeled, thereby allowing mobility once the tool cart is at a particular jobsite. However, this invention does not relate to a device that can be used to easily load and unload the tool cart from a vehicle.
There does exist devices and methods that facilitate the loading and unloading of heavy cargo from vehicles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,350, issued to Eelman, discloses a method for the easy removal of a patient on a litter from an ambulance. The method utilizes a cart structure that is mounted on swivel casters and comprises two wheel tracks to receive the wheels of the ambulance litter. The device includes an upper platform with wheel tracks that can be lowered and raised so that the wheeled tracks can be positioned such that the wheeled litter can be rolled onto the wheel tracks of the cart. The wheel tracks can be adjusted to the height of an ambulance due to the movable nature of the upper platform. The cart disclosed is structurally designed to transport a litter from an ambulance into the hospital, but the cart itself is not intended to be transported to and from a site. The adjustable nature of the cart decreases the rigidity, strength and carrying ability of the cart and increases the cost of building the cart. The cart disclosed does not allow for the economical transport of heavy toolboxes from one site to another.
Thus, there exists a need for a device that allows those that need to transport heavy toolboxes to be able to load and unload their toolboxes from a vehicle without the need for additional manual or mechanical assistance. The device needs to be structurally able to withstand the heavy load of industrial toolboxes and preferably can be built inexpensively.
The present invention is a cart that facilitates the unloading and loading of a toolbox from a vehicle used to transport the toolbox from one jobsite to another. In its elemental form, the cart comprises a wheeled frame on which a toolbox can be loaded. Atop the frame are two rails having unshaped wheel channels for receiving the wheels of a toolbox. Pivotally attached to the frame at one end of each of the two rails are wheel channel ramps which are used to serve as a bridge between the cart and the vehicle from which the toolbox is to be unloaded (or on which the toolbox is to be loaded). The cart itself can be transported along with the toolbox, and when necessary, the cart can be used to unload the toolbox from the transporting vehicle. When the toolbox must be loaded back into the vehicle, the cart can facilitate the loading process and then itself be easily placed back in the transporting vehicle.
It is an important aspect of this invention to facilitate the loading, unloading and transport of toolboxes.
It is another important aspect of this invention to provide a rigid tool cart that can be used to load, unload and transport toolboxes weighing up to 800 pounds.
It is a further aspect of this invention to provide a cart that allows for a heavy toolbox to be loaded and unloaded from a vehicle by one person without the need for a forklift or other machinery.
Another aspect of this invention is to provide a cart for transporting toolboxes that can be constructed inexpensively.
It is another aspect of this invention to provide a cart that allows for the loading, unloading and transporting of a heavy toolbox by one person with little or no physical strain.
It is important aspect of this invention to provide a device that allows tradesmen and others to move their toolbox to the immediate vicinity of a worksite.
It is an additional aspect of this invention to provide a cart upon which a toolbox can be loaded and transported in a safe and stable manner.